North Carolina State Summary

North Carolina is improving accessibility at polling places and the training of poll workers, but it should also adopt online voter registration and expand opportunities to vote before Election Day.

States should adopt online voter registration (“OLVR”).

No online voter registration.

Interstate exchanges of voter information should be expanded.

North Carolina is a member of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck (IVRC), but not of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

States should seamlessly integrate voter data acquired through DMVs with their statewide voter registration lists.

North Carolina has fully implemented electronic voter registration systems with election officials, such that the entire process of sharing information between DMVs and election administrators is digital.

Schools should be used as polling places; to address any related security concerns, Election Day should be an in-service day.

North Carolina permits county boards to use schools as polling places, but does not mandate their use.

States should consider establishing vote centers to achieve economies of scale in polling place management while also facilitating voting at convenient locations.

North Carolina has considered but not adopted legislation establishing vote centers.

Jurisdictions should develop models and tools to assist them in effectively allocating resources across polling places.

No statewide rule in place. However, we encourage jurisdictions to utilize the tools made available by the Commission. In 2012, voters waited an average of 13.5 minutes in line.

Jurisdictions should transition to electronic pollbooks.

Some jurisdictions in North Carolina use electronic pollbooks, but not all do; there is no state-wide mandate.

Jurisdictions should recruit public and private sector employees, as well as high school and college students, to become poll workers.

Students must be at least 17 years old to serve as “student election assistants,” and must be enrolled in school (or homeschooled) with an exemplary academic worker. We encourage election officials to establish robust programs to recruit public and private sector employees as well.

States should institute poll worker training standards.

North Carolina has some statutory language prescribing training for poll workers, but its State Board of Elections’ website provides no training videos or manuals.

Election authorities should establish advisory groups for voters with disabilities and for those with limited English proficiency.

No statewide statutory policy in place. We encourage North Carolina to adopt this recommendation of the Commission.

States and localities must adopt comprehensive management practices to assure accessible polling places.

North Carolina uses a DOJ-issued accessibility checklist and has produced an in-depth video exclusively on creating accessible polling places along with a “do’s and don’ts checklist.”

States should survey and audit polling places to determine their accessibility.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has surveyed and photographed each polling place, and posts pictures of polling place entrances and internal layout on the Internet for public viewing.

Jurisdictions should provide bilingual poll workers to any polling place with a significant number of voters who do not speak English.

North Carolina has no statutory language on bilingual poll workers; its State Board of Elections’ website does not mention their employment.

Jurisdictions should test all election materials for plain language and usability.

No statewide statutory policy in place to test for plain language and usability.

States should expand opportunities to vote before Election Day.

North Carolina offers early voting and no-excuse absentee voting, but the legislature recently made cuts to early voting, and these have been upheld. Due to the cuts, it now gets a “mixed” review.

States should provide ballots and registration materials to military and overseas voters via their websites.

A link to the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA) is provided directly on North Carolina’s website, as is a link to the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB).

N/A

The standard-setting and certification process for voting machines must be reformed.

N/A; a federal question.

Audits of voting equipment must be conducted after each election as part of a comprehensive audit program, and data concerning machine performance must be publicly disclosed in a common data format.

North Carolina requires post-election audits of voting machine equipment. However, North Carolina allows military and overseas voters to electronically transmit their ballots over the Internet and so its elections are not fully auditable.

Local jurisdictions should gather and report voting-related transaction data for the purpose of improving the voter experience.

North Carolina keeps detailed records of voter registration statistics, but it could do better by way of data on wait times, frequent polling place problems, etc.